Homeowners, Property Tax & Repairs · Surprise rank #256
Lead Paint in a Pre-1960 NYC Building? Grants Average About $20,000 Per Apartment
HPD's Lead Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Program pays for professional lead abatement in pre-1960 NYC buildings, including small homes. Grants average roughly $20,000 per apartment and generally do not have to be repaid.
Who
Owners of residential buildings in any of the five boroughs built before 1960 — including small one- to four-family homes, not just large apartment buildings — where lead paint is not intact and at least one unit houses a child under six or a pregnant woman, or is regularly visited by young children, and where occupants are low- or very low-income.
Where: All five boroughs of New York City. Not available in Nassau or Suffolk.
What to do
Start here: Email hpdlead@hpd.nyc.gov or call 212-863-8860 to request the Lead Hazard Reduction and Healthy Homes Program grant application. Include your most recent annual lead notice and the tenant responses you received.
Eligibility: Building constructed before 1960 and located in NYC; lead-based paint that is not intact, as determined by the program's own risk assessors; low- and very low-income households in occupancy; and at least one unit housing a child under six or a pregnant woman, or regularly visited by young children. Private owners of all types qualify, including individuals, LLCs, partnerships, nonprofits and HDFCs.
What you get
This is a federally funded grant program run jointly by HPD and the NYC Health Department, formerly called the Primary Prevention Program. HPD tests the property, writes a scope of work, and licensed EPA-certified lead abatement contractors do the job under HPD supervision. Work covers removal and replacement of lead-positive doors, door frames, window frames, sills and baseboards, plus interim controls such as wet-scraping and repainting, and it extends to common areas from lobby to bulkhead and to external fire escapes. Tenant relocation funds may be provided when needed.
Benefit: Free professional lead hazard testing, a scope of work, and grant-funded abatement by certified contractors. The grant generally does not have to be repaid.
Possible value: HPD states grants average approximately $20,000 per apartment, more or less depending on need. For a small home that is a substantial free capital improvement; for a multi-unit building the total can run well into six figures.
Good to know
Important: The strings matter most for landlords: owners of rental buildings must agree that for five years after the work, any new vacancy will be rented to low- and very low-income tenants, with priority to families with young children. Applications are ranked, not first-come — buildings with more units housing children under six and mostly low-income tenants get higher priority, and 'small owners' with fewer than five NYC buildings and under 100 units are also prioritized. You also generally need to be current on property taxes and water charges and have significant HPD or DOB violations resolved before closing. Funding is federal and finite.
Availability: Active; federally funded and prioritized rather than first-come, so applying does not guarantee an award.
Why people miss it: Owners of small homes assume lead grants are only for big apartment buildings, and tenants who report peeling paint are told about enforcement and violations rather than about the grant that would pay to fix it.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026